I have a 64 Galaxie with a 289 engine from a 66. Has an Edelbrock 1405 carb and Edelbrock Performer intake. It's been causing me to invent new cuss words for a month. I had it as my daily driver, then it started wanting to stall at lights. Soon, it just ran like hell and I couldn't trust it out of the driveway. I've gone through everything I can imagine. Timing, ignition, dwell, fuel... new parts, old parts... same story. I've cleaned the carb piece by piece 3 times, re-set idle speed/high idle/mixture screws, tried 3 fuel pumps, blew out the lines with compressed air, replaced the sender, removed and cleaned the tank, put 5 gallons of premium gas and a can of Sea Foam in. Ignition system, I've replaced the distributor (then went back to old), tried the old coil, tried the old plugs, tried the old wires/cap/rotor, replaced the starter solenoid, replaced the regulator, timed and re-timed, adjusted points, replaced the ignition switch, visually checked the wiring, ensured the battery was fine. After I cleaned the gas tank last weekend and put premium in it, it ran better than I've ever heard it for a minute... then slugs and sputters before stalling. Sometimes it will start again, sometimes not. When it doesn't, it seems there's very little or no throttle response. It turns over and starts, but will not run. I have not checked the timing chain or rebuilt the carb. I am getting good fuel through the jets when throttle is applied by hand, so I don't figure that the problem is there. I've re-adjusted the floats as well, with apparent Edelbrock specs. I'm spending way too much time on this that I don't have. I just want to drive the damn thing and get going on other things! If it were a project, maybe I wouldn't be so stressed about why it's not running well. However, it did run well; and it did so recently. It can't be that hard, but I'm obviously missing something. I appreciate the help. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
There is a Idle Circuit Hole just under the Primary Butterfly's on a 1405, I believe you have trash in it. When @ Idle it drips fuel into the intake. Hope this Helps
In betting on carb troubles. possibly a bad power valve? For a test replace with a known good carb. However most carb problems are in fact ignition. You are likely not running out of fuel your probably running out of fire. A bad condenser can give you fits. Check vacuum advance and centrifical advance. check all ground connections. Do a compression check. reach down and grab the harmonic balancer. move it back and forth. you can feel if there is excessive slack in the timing chain. Hook up a vacuum guage possibly you have a vacuum leak.
If it is a fuel problem it will be too much fuel at idle or too little. After starting it idles then dies right? so after it does this pull some plugs and see if they are wet, if so it is flooding, check your float valve. if the plugs are not wet, it could be starving for fuel, take the carb apart and shoot carb cleaner through all idle passages in carb to clean out. Like said above, idle hole clogged. Now it could also be the loss of spark, this could make the plugs wet also, but I would think spark problems would show up at higher rpm also not just idle.
Check the rubber hose that attaches the hardline to the gas tank,it may be split and sucking more air than gas,I had very similar problems and after doing many repairs it turned out to be a 50 cent piece of hose. HRP
???? where is the power valve on a 1405. When it dies pump the throttle and see if there is fuel from the accelerator pump.
Also maybe try running without the cap for a minute, see if it's sealing up and causing a vacuum situation thingy.
H.R.P. I had the same problem on an old Pontiac I had .It was a bitch to replace that tiny piece of hose but once I replace it she ran like a champ. Bruce.
Good suggestions thus far. Once you've tried them all, if the problem still exists, pull, clean and regasket the intake manifold. The SBF will occasionally fail the intake gasket seal, resulting in a varying vacuum leak, It can drive one crazy, as it can vary from warm to cold, from day to day. jack vines
Okay, I found two issues that are no-brainers that I missed. The condenser wire connection in the distributor was very loose, so I tightened that up. Also, I found that the filter on the drivers side float valve had a bit of crud. Cleaned all that out. It's running better, but still not like it should. Still stalls, but it takes longer to do it. I had the points set at .014, which gave me a 25 degree dwell. I tried a recommendation of .017 and that gives me a 15 degree dwell. Vacuum gauge is all over the place, but is still low. Idle mixture screws aren't doing much, but then again, it's not running smooth enough to make a difference yet. I'm basing them at 1-1/2 turns out. Engine kinda wants to shimmy with a low increase of throttle. This happened with the new distributor that I returned a couple weeks ago (with its new points and condenser; which is ruling those out). All hoses have been replaced last summer. I just replaced the intake gasket for the third time since last summer. Fuel filter is new and blown out regularly. Not sure where that idle circuit hole is on the carb. How much play is okay on the balancer? I'm estimating that mine is about an inch side-to-side before engaging the distributor. Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
Idle mixtures screws do not add Fuel they Vent the circuits on Edelbrocks to allow Fuel to Flow, You have a passage trashed up.
Your dwell settings don't sound correct to me. Dwell should probably be 30 degrees and a point gap of .016. Thats what I used to set them at when I worked for Ford back in the 70's. Set your points first , then the timing.
Watch the dwell as you let the motor run and rev it up. It should stay stable. If it is all over the place, the breaker plate is worn out. It will change a bunch as the vacuum advance pulls timing in. I have seen them bad enough to kill the motor as it advances. This is assuming you have a factory distributor in it. Sent from my Moto G Play using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
This was happening with a new distributor as well. I understand that new parts can be bad, too, but the same issues with two different parts makes me think the problem is elsewhere. Maybe it's time for a carb kit. Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
Here's a easy test for the Carb to get it off the idle circuit. Turn the throttle in on the bottom of the linkage this is your curb fuel flow setting, and turn till engine is up to about 1500 rpms and put it in gear with foot on the Brake. If car does not stall it is the trash in the idle circuit under butterfly's in Primary. These are very small passages internally on the Edelbrock performer series carbs. They are Damn near Exact copies of the 60's carter AFB's. Victor bought the right's to them and Weber punches them out. They are the simplest carbs on the planet. But a must is Clean Fuel and 5 p.s.i of fuel. Turning the Idle screws as mentioned with no effect is a Dead ringer for trash in one of the passages. It could be just the build up residual over time that caused the vents to get plugged or Idle screws in other words. The Idle screws adjust the amount of airflow into the circuit to allow fuel to flow on the Idle circuit. Kind of like sticking a straw in a liquid and bending the end over, depending on how much air you let in will depend on how fast the straw will empty, Idle circuit works the same.
I had lots of trash problems with my Edelbrock carb , I went through several times and finally started running non-ethanol in it.Made a big difference
go to walmart and buy a can of super tech carb cleaner. remove the two idle circuit screws. using the little red plastic pipe spray carb cleaner into the holes the screws came from. The edelbrock has metering rods that do almost the same thing a power valve does. engine vacuum at idle or steady throttle holds them down restricting the jets. any drop in vacuum should cause them to rise up and allow a richer fuel mixture. You need to be certain they are working freely. A drop on oil on them after removing the little flat metal that retains them wont hurt anything.
Last but not least do not screw the Idle screws in firmly before backing them out, you'll booger up the Aluminum seat inside the Carb.
You stated you replaced the intake gasket for the third time? and your certain you have a carb problem! Unless your racing it? Take off the likely warped intake and junk 4 bbl carb. install a cast iron 2 bbl intake and ford 2 bbl autolite carb. Many times happiness is a stock engine.
I took that setup off because someone told me the carb was too big for the engine. The more you know now, eh? Anyhow, the Edelbrock installation instructions say to not use the end gaskets, just silicone. Yeah, well, they leaked in both attempts to do it that way. Now the end gaskets are on and behold! No leaks! Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
I've also been running the car with the Edelbrock for awhile with no driveability issues. The problem only started relatively recently. Gonna pull apart the carb again to go through the metering rods and idle mixture circuits. Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
If your talking about rotating the balancer back and forth? That is a very loose timing chain, which will definitely screw up your vacuumn. Probably not noticed over time till this issue started, this issue seems to be carb related.
So I removed the carb and removed/cleaned the ports at the bottom of the bowls and the idle mixture seats. Got it all back together and tried it out. No changes. In fact, it's starting less often than it did yesterday. Then I remembered to clean/oil the metering rods. Screw head broke off on one side, well below the surface. https://www.facebook.com/groups/7344116721/permalink/10154498035071722/ *sigh* So how's your day going? Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
Hey just a Heads up, maybe something you already know but I will mention it. When facing the 1405 you have a high and low vac port, the low one is manifold vac, the high one will adjust through throttle response, this is the one you won't to use. If you hook to the manifold vac port you will be advancing the Dizzy @ idle.
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